Indeterminacy 74

When I was in high school I went out, as they say,
for oratory. When the Southern
California Oratorical Contest came around,
the situation was ticklish. L.A. High
had won the contest two years in succession.
If we won the third year, the cup
would stay in the school’s possession
forever. I was chosen to represent
the school and I passed through the
sectional contests and came to the finals,
which were held in the Hollywood Bowl
before an audience of about thirty-five
people. My coach, however,
informed me the day before that my speech
in its written form had gotten a very low
grade from the judges, that in order
to win in the finals, every single
judge would have to give me first place.
I decided that the situation was
hopeless, and that the only thing to
do was to forget about the contest and
just say what I had to say.
Apparently that’s what happened.
The cup still belongs to the school.

- John Cage